Announcements

Doug writes “Caught this program on BBC2 in the UK last night, unfortunately information is scarce on the web “two mechanically minded families will go head-to-head designing and constructing mind-blowing inventions – using only the materials they have in their house!”. Last night the teams had to make a beer chilling and dispensing system and a contraption to smash crockery. Donor items from their houses included piping from central heating systems, living room door, cement mixer, kettle, microwave and a car to name only a few. A must watch for all the UK makers out there. Link.

Make pal Zach has a great resource for building things “We are a non-profit school dedicated to teaching kids and adults about electronics, robotics, and general building of cool stuff. In just a few weeks we are holding a four week class entitled “Making Stuff with Stuff”. It’s a mixture of materials science and practical techniques for designing and prototyping. We also have classes in electronics prototyping and programming microcontrollers. All the info is on our website” – Link.

“You buy it, you own it” – but not if you buy Lexmark laser cartridges – Pay attention next time you rip open a cardboard box – you may be entering into a contract without realizing it. A recent decision in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals reinforced the right of companies, in this case Lexmark International, the printer maker, to legally limit what customers can do with a patented product, given that the company spells out conditions and restrictions on a package label known as a box-top license. Link.

PSPUpdates is reporting that there is yet another firmware update from Sony (2.01) – this update appears to remove the ability to run homebrew applications and to downgrade to 1.5. In other PSP news, there are some trojan-like downloads, a patcher, that will brick your PSP (not reboot). Steer clear of this, as well as the Sony update; both have extreme consequences.

Interesting article about the business (online and off) of bartering – I think as the DIY trend continues to increase we’ll see the barter culture and web services appealing to entrepreneurs and makers. Freecycle and DIYparts are also some favs to check out. [via] Link.

Story about the 3M duct tape band-aids as well as a larger trend, duct tape becoming an acceptable wearable accessory – Many plasters [Band-Aids] are either covered in cartoon characters to appeal to children, or are pink in color – hardly a traditionally ‘masculine’ shade, Datamonitor says. However, Nexcare 3M Duct Tape Bandages, launched in the US, are gray in colour and feature a man’s hand on the packaging, holding a DIY tool. [via] Link.

The big announcement over the weekend was that Office 12 will support PDF export from all the Office applications (Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc..). Mac users have had this system wide for the most part for awhile, but if you’re on a PC you can also do this now, for free (as opposed to the pay versions of PDF exporting). CutePDF is a great, PDF online does it online…and Adobe can convert text or HTML too. Link.